2000 Kiwiana II Booklet

Kiwiana II Mint Set.

In 1994 New Zealand Post issued the first Kiwiana stamp series – a light-hearted tribute to the foods, toys, sports and lifestyles that define New Zealand’s culture and attitude and set us apart from the rest of the world. From fish and chips to gumboots, these stamps enabled us to laugh at ourselves while appreciating and celebrating our special identity.
Kiwiana II was the sequel to this popular issue, featuring 10 more characteristics of everyday New Zealand life. It saluted the versatile li-lo, a pair of cosy ug boots, the gastronomic delights of the chocolate fish, the hot dog, the meat pie and the Anzac biscuit; and our summer necessities, the barbecue, the chilly bin, pipis (a seafood delicacy) and the classic Kiwi holiday home, the bach or crib.

The Stamps.
The 2000 Kiwiana  II issue, a se-tenant block of 10 x 40c stamps was issued as a stamp booklet featuring cartoon views of a kiwi bird. 
I have selected both mint and used examples of each stamp in this post,

                                 
40c - Chilly Bin (Self Adhesive) - Mint.                                   40c - Chilly Bin (Self Adhesive) - Used.
A certain restlessness of spirit combined with an inquisitive desire to see if the grass really is greener in the next hundred paddocks sees thousands of Kiwis take to the road every Christmas, Easter and weekend. Often we bring our own food and beverage and usually carry it in the boot of the car in the trusty chilly bin. Known to Australians as the 'esky', and elsewhere in the world as a 'cooler', this is the only country where the chilly bin is the generic name for this eminently portable insulated lunchbox. With around 85,000 sold here every year, they’re an indispensable part of a freewheeling easy Kiwi summer lifestyle.

                                
40c - Pipis (Self Adhesive) - Mint.                                   40c - Pipis (Self Adhesive) - Used.
Pavlova, pūhā, pāua and the small but resilient pipi make up part of the gastronomic mythology of Aotearoa.
If you see New Zealand families strewn along a sandy beach at low tide, bottoms up, scrabbling in the sand, they are probably gathering pipi, or their relatives tuatua and the much larger, rarer and controlled toheroa, which all belong to a family of shellfish unique to this country. Shellfish have always formed part of the New Zealand diet. Māori had to be expert fishermen, with few alternative protein sources in the bush. While men went fishing, it was the women who collected the seafood on the shore.

                             
40c - Lilo (Self Adhesive) - Mint.                                      40c - Lilo (Self Adhesive) - Used.
The lilo has played a starring role for many years in New Zealand beach culture – along with inflatable water wings for kids, drawstring plastic beach bags, jandals, rubber bathing caps, bermuda shorts, transistor radios, suntan lotion and Holdens with a surfboard rack. Not a New Zealand invention, the lilo, came from England as a brand name for an air mattress, traditionally made of rubber with a mercerized cotton covering. But the kids who had spent summer afternoons at the river or the beach floating like inverted beetles in bloated rubber innertubes from a tractor tyre quickly adapted the lilo to the same purpose.

                                  
40c - Chocolate Fish (Self Adhesive) - Mint.                                   40c - Chocolate Fish (Self Adhesive) - Used.
Fishing has always been a major industry here, in many cases for sheer survival, more recently for fun. The 1920s saw the development of a healthy beach culture and it didn’t take long before the enterprising chocolate company produced a delightfully sweet confectionery that reflected our adoration of all things nautical. Thus was born the not so humble chocolate fish. About 12.5 centimetres long, in a classic Greco-Roman fishy shape, its chocolate coating gives no hint of the finely spun piquant marshmallow pinkness within. Generations of ..Kiwi children were raised with the anticipation of the ‘choccie fish’ as a special treat.

                                 
40c - Holiday Bach / Crib (Self Adhesive) - Mint.                              40c - Holiday Bach / Crib (Self Adhesive) - Used.
The holiday bach remains a quintessentially Kiwi preserve with an almost mystical fascination for generations of New Zealanders. In the South Island, it is known as a ‘crib’ a term used by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist, to mean a lodging or public house. In the North Island with typical New Zealand blitheness, the word ‘bach’ was picked up to denote bachelor accommodation, literally a shortened version of ‘bachelor’, suggesting a reserved ‘Man Alone’ type surviving under basic living conditions. However, in the years following World War II, the bach became a family holiday retreat, a magical haven of informality and a casual back-to-basics style of living.

                                 
40c - Barbecue (Self Adhesive) - Mint.                                   40c - Barbecue (Self Adhesive) - Used.
"We’re having a barbeque, bring some meat," is a phrase shot full of expectation and romance for New Zealanders. The New Zealand barbecue has assumed a peculiar prominence in the social calendar, requiring a casual but stylish dress, a warm ‘cardy’ or ‘parka’ in case of biting southerlies and a combination of anything from sausages and chops to paua fritters and marinated chicken. The meat is usually accompanied by potato salad and coleslaw. While these accompaniments are left to the women, men rule over the charcoal grill, whether it be in the backyard or on the beach, standing about the barbecue grill with a beer in hand.

                                
40c - Ug Boots (Self Adhesive) - Mint.                                   40c - Ug Boots (Self Adhesive) - Used.
An Australian surfie, who wrapped a piece of sheepskin around his chilly lower extremities, is deemed to be the inventor of the caveman-like Ug (short for ugly) boot in the 60s. But it was New Zealand manufacturers that stole a march on our trans-Tasman neighbours to turn this walking tribute to practically an export winner. The crude early design was modified with a cut across the ankle and since then there’s been the addition of a sole for increased ruggedness, short and tall versions, and a variety of colours.

                                 
40c - Anzac Biscuits (Self Adhesive) - Mint.                                   40c - Anzac Biscuits (Self Adhesive) - Used.
Named for the disastrous but heroic landing at Gallipoli in 1915, by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the Anzac biscuit owes something to the origins of many Kiwis in being a peculiarly New Zealand version of the Scottish oatcake. The imaginative addition of golden syrup and coconut gives the Anzac ‘bikkie’ a certain piquancy.

                                
40c - Hot Dogs (Self Adhesive) - Mint.                                   40c - Hot Dogs (Self Adhesive) - Used.
No self-respecting stock car race, fairground, A & P Show, or school gala would be seen without a hot dog stall. In the middle of last century, enterprising fish and chip shop owners realised they could throw something other than fish into batter and oil. A beef sausage in batter found a ready market and the humble red sav looked particularly enticing in a crispy gold coat. The simple addition of an ice cream stick stuck in one end made it portable – and a dunking in tomato sauce made it irresistible.

                                
40c - Meat Pies (Self Adhesive) - Mint.                                   40c - Meat Pies (Self Adhesive) - Used.
It used to be said that a New Zealander’s idea of a seven-course meal consists of a six-pack and a pie.
The meat pie is a New Zealand staple. Although meat stew in a pastry case has long been popular in English cookery, the small square eat-on-the-run version is a distinctly New Zealand adaptation.



Self Adhesive Booklet of ten 40 cent stamps, complete with its full cover.
Notice on the back cover of the booklet is an advert for the 2000 First to see the New Dawn issue.

First Day Cover - 3 April 2000.
The little cartoon character takes pride of place on the First Day Cover too. He also appears on the special cancel for this issue.

Technical information

                    Date of issue:
3 April 2000
                    Designer:
Bob Gagnon, Silverdale, New Zealand
                    Printer:
Southern Colour Print, New Zealand
                    Stamp size:
25mm x 30mm
                    Process:
Lithography
                    Perforation gauge:      Die cut
                    Period of sale:
These stamps remained on sale until 2 April 2001.



Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ
You can visit their website and Online Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/

Information for this post came from.
New Zealand Post (Stamps)